1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a structure for mounting a fuel bomb to a body of an automobile which runs using a gaseous fuel such as natural gas.
2. Description of the Related Art
A fuel bomb for natural gas or like, which has a rigid structure for withstanding the pressurization, is larger in size and heavy in weight as compared with a gasoline tank, and accordingly, it is usually mounted in back of a rear seat.
For a sedan type passenger car, there have been known examples in which a fuel tank is disposed between right and left rear wheel houses in back of a rear seat (Examined Japanese Utility Model Publication Nos. SHO 50-25851 and HEI 3-26988).
The example described in Examined Japanese Utility Model Publication No. SHO 50-25851 shows a fuel tank mounting structure for an automobile using gasoline as a fuel. The fuel tank in this example is supported such that the front and rear ends of the lower surface are supported by lower brackets fixed on a floor; and one end of the upper surface is supported by a bracket mounted on a body panel and the other end of the upper surface is fixed by band-mounting.
In the example described in Examined Japanese Utility Model Publication No. HEI 3-26988, the fuel tank itself is supported by the upper portion of a floor between rear wheel houses, and a tank case covering the fuel tank is disposed between the right and left rear wheel houses and fixed at the right and left ends thereof on suspension towers of the rear wheel houses.
In each of the above examples, a fuel tank is fixed on a floor between right and left rear wheel houses, and it does not contribute to the enhancement in the rigidity of a vehicular body.
In the case where the rigidity at the vicinity of rear wheels is low, particularly, a heavy fuel tank mounted near the rear wheels tends to deform the vicinity of rear wheels, and hence to exert adverse effect on the steering characteristic.
In the latter example (Examined Japanese Utility Model Publication No. HEI 3-26988), a tank case increases the rigidity of the rear portion of a vehicular body; however, it is not effective because the tank case does not support a heavy fuel tank.
Another disadvantage is that, in accelerating and decelerating operations, the tank case partially supports the inertia force of the fuel tank, and thereby the fuel tank is possibly moved.